Diplomatura en Ciències Empresarials (3011)

Regulació i Intervenció Estatal en el Sector Privat(10090) 

This course addresses the central issue of regulatory economics: How can one induce firms in non-competitive markets to produce and price "optimally"? In the first part of the course the reasons for, the tasks of and the limitations to regulation will be discussed. The second part will be concerned with different types of price regulation (MC pricing, AC pricing, Ramsey pricing, non-linear pricing, peak load pricing, price cap regulation, rate base regulation). Then we will discuss the effect of price regulation on incentives and efficiency, and we will consider some topics in incentive regulation.

Tema 1. Tasks and Goals of Regulation

Tema 2. Price regulation

2.1. Marginal Cost Pricing.

2.2. Average Cost Pricing.

2.3. Ramsey Prices.

2.4. Non-linear Pricing, Two part tariffs.

2.5. Peak Load Pricing.

2.6. Rate Base regulation.

2.7. Price Cap regulation: RPI-X.

Tema 3. Incentive regulation

3.1. The Averch-Johnson-Wellisz effect.

3.2. Moral Hazard.

3.3. Optimal Pricing Reconsidered: Incentives.

3.4. Yardstick Competition.

3.5. Auctions.

Requirements: Teoria Microeconòmica I and II, Matemàtiques III.

Bibliografia

ARMSTRONG, M., COWANS, S. and VICKERS, J. Regulatory reform: economic analysis and British experience. MIT press, Cambridge, 1994.

BERG, S. V. and TSCHIRHART, J. Natural monopoly regulation: principles and practice. Cambridge / Nova York: Cambridge University Press, 1988.

KAHN, A. E. The economics of regulation: Principals and institutions. Cambridge: MIT press. Second edition, 1988.

LAFFONT, J., TIROLE, J. A theory of incentives in procurement and regulation. Cambrigde: MIT Press, 1993. Capítol 1.

SPULBER, Daniel F. Regulation and markets. Cambridge / Massachusetts / Londres: MIT Press. Introducció, cap.1, 1989.

TRAIN, K. Optimal regulation. Cambridge / Massachusetts / Londres: MIT Press, 1992.